Ferrous aggregate for concrete

ABSTRACT

1. AN AGGREGATE FOR CONCRETE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING MEMBERS EMANATING FROM A CARRIER, SAID CARRIER BEING LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING STRIP WRAPPED AROUND A CONVENTIONAL CONCRETE REINFORCING ROD, AND SAID MEMBERS EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM.

106-97. AU 116 EX NOV; 5, 1974 5 DUNN, JR 3,846,085

"ERROUS AGGREGATE FOR CONCRETE Filed Jan. 27, 1972 IIHHHUIIHI United States Patent 3,846,085 FERROUS AGGREGATE FOR CONCRETE Edward D. Dunn, Jr., Albany, Ga., assignor to Versatile Structures, Incorporated, Leary, Ga. Filed Jan. 27, 1972, Ser. No. 221,232 Int. Cl. B21c 37/00 U.S. Cl. 29-1916 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An aggregate for concrete having a plurality of longitudinally extending members emanating from a carrier. The carrier may be a hollow sphere, or a longitudinally extending strip mounted on either a hollow sphere or a conventional concrete reinforcing rod. When a hollow sphere is used, loops may be formed on selected ones of the longitudinally extending members for attachment to reinforcing bars embedded in the concrete. Rods, nails, staples, and the like, may be used as the longitudinally extending members. Preferably, these members are constructed from steel, along with the hollow spheres.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to concrete construction, and particularly to man-made, preferably ferrous aggregate therefor.

Description of the Prior-Art Conventional concrete is a mixture of cement, sand, aggregate, which is sometimes called gravel and water. Natural aggregate contributes 40% to 80% of the weight of the concrete, and usually is made up of stones ranging in size from /a to 6" in diameter. It is well known that concrete is made much stronger by reinforcing it with steel rods. Studies have been made that show that the concrete is strongest at those points of contact with the reinforcing rods. It has also been shown that greater strength is obtained by using a large number of small reinforcing rods than is obtained by using a smaller number of large reinforcing rods.

It has long been known, as shown, for example, in US. Pats. Nos.: 868,762 and 1,369,794, that hollow spheres may be substituted for natural aggregate in concrete. It is also known, as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 1,349,901, to disperse randomly a plurality of longitudinally extending members in a ferroconcrete construction. These hollow spheres and dispersed elements have the advantage that they make it possible to provide a lighter and stronger concrete construction than results from the use of natural aggregate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lighter and stronger concrete construction using an improved man-made aggregate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an aggregate that can be arranged in a concrete construction by design, rather than at random.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an aggreate that may be assembled along with much of the reinforcing bar at a location where placement could be effected more easily than at the final location of the concrete construction.

These and other objects are accomplished according to the present invention by providing a concrete construction having a body of cement with conventional concrete reinforcing rods arranged therein along with a plurality of aggregate members provided with longitudinally extending members emanating therefrom. Aggregate accord- 3,846,085 Patented Nov. 5, 1974 "ice ing to the present invention has a plurality of longidinally extending members emanating from a carrier.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carrier is a hollow, metal, preferably steel sphere, and the longitudinally extending members extend radially therefrom. Loops may be attached to the ends of selected ones of the longitudinally extending members for connecting same to conventional concrete reinforcing rods.

In another preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the carrier is a longitudinally extending strip, and the longitudinally extending members are formed by making transverse cuts in the longitudinally extending strip. This strip may be wrapped around a conventional concrete reinforcing rod, with the longitudinally extending members extending radially therefrom, or it may be wrapped about the periphery of a hollow, metal, preferably steel sphere, again with the longitudinally extending members extending radially therefrom.

The length of the longitudinally extending members according to the present invention is preferably determined by the design distance between each piece of aggregate. The radially emanating members of adjacent aggregate intermingle with one another giving extra reinforcement to the concrete. This extra reinforcement is not attainable with regular aggregate.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, schematic, sectional view showing a concrete construction using aggregate according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view showing one embodiment of aggregate according to the present invention.

FIG. 3. is a sectional view taken generally along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modified arrangement of the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view showing a detail drawn to a larger scale than FIGS. 2 to 4 of a modified longitudinally extending member.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, elevational view similar to FIG. 5, and showing another modification of longitudinally extending members.

F11. 7 is a plan view showing another embodiment of a carrier and longitudinally extending members according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an elevational view showing the carrier and longitudinally extending members of FIG. 7 arranged on a hollow sphere.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 9-9 of FIG. 10 showing the carrier and longitudinally extending members of FIG. 7 arranged about a reinforcing bar.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary, elevational view showing the embodiment of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS section may be used. Selected ones of members 18 may have loops 20 formed at the outer end thereof for engaging with loops 22 and tieing aggregate members 16 to reinforcing rods 14. In this manner, the position of aggregate members 16 in concrete construction may be determined by design. In all embodiments of the aggregate according to the present invention, longitudinally extending members 18 are mounted on a carrier. It is this carrier that permits the longitudinally extending members to be placed in concrete construction 10 by design.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, aggregate members 16 are shown as having a hollow sphere 24 made up of a pair of mating hemispherical sections 26 which may be constructed from a, for example, steel in a known manner. For example, sections 26 may be stamped out of flat stock as is conventional. They then may be fastened together as by a suitable, known welding technique. Holes 28 are provided in sections 26 for permitting members 18 to be attached thereto. The at- L ment, a, for example, nail 34 is attached to a sphere 24,

30 as by resistent welding. FIG. 6 of the drawings shows a similar arrangement in which a staple or U- shaped piece of wire 36 may be so attached to a sphere 24, 30.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawings, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in which the carrier is a longitudinally extending fiat strip 38. A plurality of longitudinally extending members 40 are formed in strip 38 by making transverse cuts in most of the width of strip 38. Strips 38 may be mounted to a hollow sphere 42, which may be constructed as spheres 24, 30. A plurality of strips 38 may be arranged on sphere 42 to form a pair of perpendicular rows of members 40. The strips 38 may be attached to sphere 42 as by spot welding.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show strips 38 wrapped around conventional concrete reinforcing rods 14 and arranged such that members 40 extend radially from rods 14. Since rod 14 is generally constructed from steel, strips 38 may again be spot welded to rod 14. Members 40 increase the area which rods 14 contact the cement, and thus increase the strength of the structure.

As an alternative to tieing the aggregate to reinforcing rods 14, loops could be used to merely position the aggregate members 16 in a concrete construction 10 that does not even have reinforcing rods 14.

As can be readily appreciated from the above description, the aggregate according to the present invention allows for a ferrous aggregate and reinforcing rods to be assembled in sections in one convenient location and then transported to the final job location. By being able to tie together both the aggregate and the reinforcing rods, as is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, greater strength is imparted to the concrete construction 10 than is obtained with conventional systems. This is because the radially emanating longitudinally extending members develop a ferro-cement type of reinforcing consistency.

The aggregate according to the present invention will permit new areas of construction to be exploited due to the decrease in designed strength made possible by the aggregate.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An aggregate for concrete, comprising a purality of longitudinally extending members emanating from a carrier, said carrier being a longitudinally extending strip wrapped around a conventional concrete reinforcing rod, and said members extending radially therefrom.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the carrier and the members are constructed from a metal.

3. .An aggregate for concrete, comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending members emanating from a carrier, said carrier being a longitudinally extending strip wrapped about the periphery of a hollow sphere, and said members extending radially therefrom.

4. A structure as defined in claim 3, wherein the carrier and the members are constructed from a metal.

5. An aggregate for concrete, comprising, in combinaticn:

(a) a carrier in the form of a hollow sphere;

(b) at least one longitudinally extending member mounted on and arranged emanating radially from the hollow sphere; and

(c) means provided on the longitudinally extending member for tying same to conventional concrete reinforcing rods.

6. A structure as defined in claim 5, wherein there is a plurality of longitudinally extending members mounted on and arranged emanating radially from the hollow sphere, with only a portion of the members being provided with the means for tieing.

7. A structure as defined in claim 5, wherein the carrier and the member are constructed from a metal.

8. A concrete construction, comprising, in combination:

(a) a body of cement; and

(b) at least one aggregate member arranged in the body of cement and including a carrier being a hollow body provided with at least one longitudinally extending member emanating outwardly from the body.

9. A structure as defined in claim 8, wherein said carrier is a hollow sphere, and a plurality of members extend radially therefrom.

10. A structure as defined in claim 9, wherein means are provided for tying said sphere to conventional concrete reinforcing rods.

11. A structure as defined in claim 8, wherein there is a plurality of aggregate members radially emanating from the carrier, and further including at least one conventional concrete reinforcing rod arranged in the body of cement and means for connecting together the aggregate members and reinforcing rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,306,794 2/1967 Humbert, Jr. 156-187 337,983 3/1886 OKeefe 21 ll25 2,805,067 9/1957 Ryan 273-58 K UX 3,651,530 3/1972 Schultz 27358 K UX 3,400,507 9/ 1968 MacChesney 52600 1,369,794 3/1921 Dyer 106-86 WINSTON A. DOUGLAS, Primary Examiner O. F. CRUTCHFIELD, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2919l; 106-97 

1. AN AGGREGATE FOR CONCRETE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING MEMBERS EMANATING FROM A CARRIER, SAID CARRIER BEING LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING STRIP WRAPPED AROUND A CONVENTIONAL CONCRETE REINFORCING ROD, AND SAID MEMBERS EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM. 